How the city of Atlanta finally fell in love with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan

You could hear it late in the season, a thunderous chorus of Atlantans all chanting the same three letters, again and again.

“M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!”

Throughout the Falcons’ 11-5 season and their impressive playoff run all the way to the Super Bowl, the chants grew louder as the team inched closer to the ever-elusive championship. The man who fans had deemed an NFL MVP — quarterback Matt Ryan — kept playing like one.

Ryan is Atlanta’s franchise cornerstone, a Falcons veteran of nine seasons. He’s the leader of the team’s dynamic offense, a field general with the arm strength to make plays you’d usually see in video games. Read more…